Bezos, Ballmer, Allen make the Time 100

Time magazine this week released its list of the Time 100, the annual feature Managing Editor Richard Stengel describes as “a thoughtful and sprightly survey of the most influential individuals in the world.”

Along with George W. Bush, the Dalai Lama, Miley Cyrus and George Clooney, the list includes three prominent Seattle figures — all, tellingly, tech titans:

Yahoo! is learning what it’s like to be in his crosshairs. He also swears that he’s going to smoke Google. Whether you like the company or not, give credit where credit is due: Steve Ballmer kicks a**.

If the brain is science’s greatest frontier, you need someone to lead the expedition — someone with smarts and curiosity, not to mention a large bank account to finance the journey. In the terra incognita of the brain, that’s Paul Allen.

Bezos’ mantra has remained constant: Try to give your customers the biggest selection at the best prices, delivered cheaply and easily. That’s a great, old-fasioned visionary.

P.S. — Among the Time 100 featured contributors are Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz and Craigslist founder Craig Newmark. Schultz wrote about Indra Nooyi, chairman and CEO of PepsiCo. Newmark dished about tech’s richest new kid on the block — Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook.